


242. Starry Night

by tveckling



Series: Dare to Write challenge [57]
Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, Humansider, Just a peaceful night of stargazing and a bit of sadness, M/M, Post-DotO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 23:51:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13962771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tveckling/pseuds/tveckling
Summary: Corvo wasn't expecting any company when he came up to the roof. It was a place he usually came to when he wanted to be alone and as far as he was aware no one else knew that the secret passage even existed. But then, the Outsider wasn't any normal person. Of course he knew.





	242. Starry Night

Corvo wasn't expecting any company when he came up to the roof. It was a place he usually came to when he wanted to be alone and as far as he was aware no one else knew that the secret passage even existed. But then, the Outsider wasn't any normal person. Of course he knew.

It seemed like the Outsider had sat there for long time when Corvo found him. He was looking at the stars with a faraway expression, one that made something indescribable inside of Corvo ache. It felt strange to say it, even stranger than finding the Outsider there in the first place, but the Outsider looked wistful. It was probably the most human expression Corvo had seen him make, even with all their moments of intimacy. For a moment he thought about leaving and letting the Outsider be with his thoughts, but then he shrugged. If the Outsider didn't want any company he would have gone somewhere even Corvo didn't know of.

Without saying anything Corvo walked over to sit next to the Outsider, keeping barely a breath of air between them. In the time since he had arrived in Dunwall the Outsider had shown a desire for human contact that Corvo hadn't expected, but which had seemed obvious once he thought about it, and Corvo was the one he got the closest too. It had been strange at first, because Corvo was so used to being on his own, unnoticed, but once he had figured out the reason behind the Outsider’s constant presence he couldn't fault him for it. Then, somewhere along the way, Corvo had gotten used to the Outsider’s presence, his closeness, to the point of his absence grating on Corvo’s mind. 

It had become normal, somehow, for him to sit so close to the Outsider. That they then had grown even closer, intimate, was just a natural follow. The Outsider’s place at Corvo’s side, and vice versa, was firmly cemented both in and outside of their bedroom. 

The Outsider didn't look at him or in any other way acknowledge him when he sat down, so Corvo let the silence settle over them like a comfortable blanket, with only the sounds of the city and the ocean breaking the tranquil peace. Up there, with only the endless sky and the stars watching, with the Outsider a silent companion, he could feel the troubles of the day slowly give way to serenity. He could breathe and not feel his worries, all his plans and fears and misgivings, choke him. Just for a little while he didn't have to feel the weight of  _ Spymaster _ , could just be  _ Corvo _ , and not even that if he wanted. He could let it all go, for a little while. 

“I can remember the sky from when I was alive.” The Outsider’s quiet voice slipped through the silence, becoming a part of it rather than breaking it. He was still looking up at the sky with an indecipherable expression, his hands resting in his lap. “So much has changed, the world is a completely different place, but the sky is still the same. Though different eyes see different images, for me the sky is an eternal sight, unchanged after thousands of years. I can look up at the stars and see the constellations my father showed me when I was yet a small child, before he died.”

Corvo turned from watching the Outsider to looking into the great expanse above him, lit with uncountable lights. He had rarely heard the Outsider mention his first life, and never anything truly personal. The small admission, the mention of a father, made his heart beat faster in both excitement and nervousness. “Will you tell me about them?”

The Outsider was silent for a moment, then he turned to look at Corvo, and just for a moment he looked like he was going to cry. Then he was facing the stars again, his hand rising to point at specific spots. “That cluster of stars and the two next to them, right there, that is what we called the Guide. Those three stars forming a line next to her hand, there, is the staff she used to divide up the land. And there, to the left, that's the Snake. You see those three stars at the end, they look like an inverted arrowhead, that's its gaping maw, because right next to it is the Rabbit. See, there. The Rabbit is unaware of the Snake, and the Snake is preparing to swallow its prey whole “

Corvo nodded, fascinated and captured by the Outsider’s tales and explanations, as he followed the Outsider’s hand to the various constellations. The distance between them had completely disappeared, Corvo leaning closer to see what the Outsider was looking at and the Outsider leaning closer to show Corvo better, and the Outsider’s breath tickled Corvo’s ear as he spoke. Corvo’s hand lied against the Outsider’s warm thigh, their shoulders and hips pressed together without either of them noticing. It was easy and comfortable and so very intimate. 

“There is the Great Desert, full of sand storms that will swallow you whole if you enter it unprepared. I remember other orphans using it to tell scary stories, and though I was older then and pretended to be unaffected they still caused many sleepless nights.” The Outsider chuckled, and Corvo smiled with him. “I suppose it wouldn't surprise you to hear that I also used it as a way of scaring those younger than me.”

“Honestly, no, it doesn't surprise me,” Corvo said with a smile, thinking of the badly concealed glee on the Outsider’s face every time he managed to startle Corvo. Sometimes he wondered if the Outsider even tried to mask it. 

The Outsider huffed his amusement and pointed to a new area in the sky. “There, that is-" 

Corvo immediately turned his whole focus on the Outsider when his voice broke, finding all joy gone from his lover’s face. Before he could say anything, however, the Outsider continued speaking, in a dull voice. 

“That's the Whale. You see the eye, that big star there. The Whale, the Leviathan. It's the only constellation that has remained during these four thousand year.” The Outsider lowered his hand and stared up at the gathering of stars, his face again indecipherable. “The constellation was discovered, or created the year I was born. It alerted the Eyeless, spoke of the need for a new vessel for the Void. It alerted them of me. It has been here since the day I took breath, and stayed as I was held in the Void’s deep. I wonder, will it disappear once I die? For good, this time.”

Corvo frowned, hesitating over what to do or say. He didn't like the darkness that had crept into the Outsider’s voice, but he couldn't think of anything to say to lessen it. Of the two the Outsider was the talkative one, knowing what to say and when, not Corvo. Actions had always been his forte. 

So before the Outsider could spend more time on dark thoughts Corvo wrapped his arm around his shoulders and pressed his lips against the Outsider’s temple. “That won't happen for a long time, and when it does, will it actually matter? Since you'll be dead.”

The Outsider turned his face into Corvo’s shoulder and laughed, a hand settling on the back of Corvo’s neck. “I suppose you're right, my dear Corvo. It is that easy, isn't it?”

“Yes, it is.” Corvo held the Outsider closer, stroking his hair. “We’ll have many nights to discuss disappearing stars. For now it's enough to know that they are there now, don't you think?”

“Perhaps.” 

The Outsider didn't sound convinced, but he didn't protest or move away. He also didn't speak, so Corvo took it as a sign that the impromptu constellation history lesson was over. The night was still young, and Corvo was content to stay where he was, so he continued to hold the Outsider while looking out over the city, under the watchful eyes of thousands and thousands of stars.


End file.
